Friday, July 17, 2009 15:55 WIB
Jakarta,  (ANTARA News) - Nine people were killed and 52 others injured in bomb explosions which hit JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Mega Kuningan area, south Jakarta, on Friday morning, according to data from the health ministry.

"Timothy David McKay (60), a New Zealand national, was killed. Eight other dead victims are still being identified by the police," Rustam S Pakaya, head of the health ministry`s crisis control center, said here on Friday.

Of the total 52 injured persons, 36 were being treated at Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) Hospital, four at the Jakarta Hospital, one at Medistra Hospital, and another one at Pertamina Hospital, he said.

The injured foreigners include those from the US, Norway, South Korea, Britain, Japan, Italy, India, the Netherlands, and Australia.

Head of the National Police`s Public Relations Division Inspector General Nanang Sukarna said here on Friday eight people were killed on the spot at the JW Marriott Hotel and two at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, while one died at the Medistra Hospital.

Police investigators and bomb squad personnel were still investigating the cause of the explosions.

Following the explosions, police found an object suspected to be a bomb in one of the rooms at JW Marriott Hotel.The object was later taken away from the hotel area by a bomb-squad car.

Adjunct Senior Commissioner Ahmad Rifai, head of the Jakarta Police`s mobile investigation unit, ordered tens of journalists to leave the hotel`s building. He also asked hundreds of the public and journalists staying about 10 meters from the hotel`s lobby, to move away from the location.

The Marriott Hotel was bombed by terrorists before, namely on August 5, 2003. Some 12 people, including a Dutch national, were killed and 147 others wounded.(*)